The Herman Göring LPD, Sicily, 1943, in 20mm size and for RF! rules

One more big unit with most of the vehicles taken from the shelves of other Divisions. Even so the Pz III M, the infantry figures, the Marder IIs, the IG75s and the 150mm howitzers were all built on purpose for this Division.

Rapid Fire! Sicily 1943 in 20mm - The last parts of the LPD Herman Göring

 

On the heights of Gela, right on top of the twin mountains of Monica Belluchi, the II and III artillery battalions of the LFD Herman Göring artillery regiment prepare to support the attack of the mobile forces. Also close by some IG75mm lend some hitting power to the attack.  

 

What was still missing in this division were a pair of Marder II, one to each of the infantry regiments; four IG75, one to each of the three infantry battalions and one to the reconnaissance battalion; one infantry battalions and two battalions of 15cm sFH18  (maybe still needing a pair of them in the future). 

The Marder II (PzII chassis) were part of the AT assets of both PzGrenadier regiments. These models are MiniGeneral 3d PLA prints. 

The crew came from PSC, Simon Soldiers and Esci.

Plenty of stowage had to be added as these MiniGeneral prints are already a bit old and the printing lines are visible even after spraying several coats of varnish. But dimensions are very good and a nice result can be achieved with some patience. 

Now for the First To Fight 15cm sFH 18. They are the horse towed version (the only ones FtF released up to now) and some work had to be dedicated to turn it into the Hanomag towed version. That passed into filling with Milliput the holes of the wheels with that were drilled after drying.

Then some cut out pieces of Evergreen plastic card were rolled around each wheel for it to look like a rubber tire. 

In the end the result is ok (ok if you discount the fact that the vehicle towed wheels only had 8 holes instead of 9, but that is a secret between you and me). 

The artillery crews are also FtF with a few converted Esci in the middle. All of them had baggier trousers added with GreenStuff. 

The IG18s are MiniGeneral with FtF, PSC and Hasegawa crews. 

Both crews of the 15cm sFH and 75mm IG18 have painting schemes (no SS camouflaged smocks) that allows them to blend with the Afrika Korps as all these models were still absent in the mighty DAK. They have some particular insignia of the HG division as the cuff titles but they are too small to be seen from 1 meter distance. 

The infantry is coming from all sorts of plastic brands as usual - Airfix, Esci, Atlantic, Revell, Matchbox, FtF -  and all of them got baggier trousers with the help of GreenStuff. 

The Esci MG34 firers got a bipod for them to rest their tired arms. They were in this position for 30 years or so which must have not been easy!

An HG infantry company with many brands mixed in. 

The heavy weapons company is a full FtF company with a few Revell and Esci figures in the MG34 stands. 

The radio man is a conversion from the tripod MG34 firer of the DAK Revell. 

Also the officer is the famous Airfix DAK officer with legs from Revell. 

A few more stands for the engineers of the HG. Airfix and Esci figures. 

Like this I can consider the Luftwaffe Panzer Division Herman Göring for Sicily complete. In the last few months I added the PzIII M, infantry, some missing Stug, Marder II and artillery to a list of vehicles that were not collected thinking of this big unit particularly, like Pz IV Gs, 251Cs, 105 lFH, etc that will have to fit in order not to make another long list of models just because of minor details. 

What I think is essential to portray the LFD HG is the PzGrenadier infantry, due to their SS smocks mixed with other desert pieces of uniform and equipment and the battalion of PzIII M, due to the absent chassis skirts. All the rest can be and will be recruited from other fronts, namely the Western Desert and even Normandy, which is the place from where my PzIVs, Hanomags, Opel Blitz and Bisons will come just to name a few.  

Next: probably more Italians for the desert. 

Rapid Fire! Sicily 1943 in 20mm - The second battalion of PzGrenadiers of the FPD 'Hermann Göring'

Second PzGrenadier battalion ready, and one still missing to finish the division. One of the four battalions of the HG didn´t go to Sicily so only three are necessary. 

One again very old plastic figures were used from several soft and hard plastic brands that you will easily recognize. Well, if you didn't, from L to R:

- "Chinese' Airfix as the firer of the MG-34; 

- Esci No2 with rifle cut out and feeding the MG-34; 

- Revell; 

- Matchbox; 

- Hasegawa; 

- Revell with extra rifle on the back; 

- Hasegawa 

- and Matchbox DAK.

The only big change were the usual baggier trousers made from GreenStuff. The SS camouflage smock used by the HG grenadiers was painted in a different scheme as this division had access to some 10 different types.

The heavy weapons company is a full PSC unit. Only the prone figure and the leaning one are Hasegawa hard plastic figures.

Some GreenStuff was also added to the bottom of the trousers of the Hasegawa figures as they had high boots originally. 

More baggier trousers for the command group. The officer holding the pistol doesn't carry a MP-40 as it belongs to the radioman but it looks like it :) 

Next: I'll have a solo game now but also I'll add some more WW2 Germans to several projects.

Rapid Fire! Sicily 1943 in 20mm - The first battalion of PzGrenadiers of the FPD 'Hermann Göring'

 

On the news of the Allied landings the I. Bn/Grenadier- Regiment 1 joins at the slopes of  Monica Belluchi hill(s) and prepares itself to drive the enemy back to North Africa.

The figures are all soft plastic figures from Esci, Atlantic, Airfix/Chinese copies, Revell and Matchbox. All figures had some kind of modification: the ones with original Feldmutze had it changed to the usual HG side cap and all trousers with boots had a bit of EverGreen for them to look like the larger and looser trousers used by these units. 

The MGs 34 were a bit more complicated. The firer and tripod are the very old DAK Matchbox figures with the much nicer Revell barrel and a few more details. The mortar is also Matchbox (with the outer ring cut off) and converted DAK Airfix commander. 

This battalion had its coats painted in one of the numerous SS camouflage smocks used by the HG PzGrenadiers. I will do two more of these battalions (only 3 saw service in Sicily) and they will be painted in another SS scheme. 

The MP40 firer managed to bring some ashish from Morocco and is still under its influence. This is one of the figures with a hat change. 

The command company got some bent arms, torsos on different legs and a radio on the back of one of the figures. 

The weapons company already painted with plenty of conversions that can be recognized from the time of dry mud sent against plastic miniatures on the back yard. Now I got slightly more civilized. 

A full company of Grenadiers. 

Lastly, the first of the three companies of the Pionner battalion of the FHG division.

Next: one more of these battalions, Epic and Kallistra ACW or some more German tows. 

Rapid Fire! Sicily 1943 in 20mm - The Pz III M of the FPD 'Hermann Göring'

As this is Italy I should start with these miniatures in some place called 'Monica Belluchi' but, as I´m in love with her for some 25 years at least I will let that stupid remark aside as a sign of respect ... even if respect is not exactly what I think when I see Monica...

The Fallschirmpanzerdivision 'Hermann Göring' was an interesting Panzer Division. It had three tank battalions each of them equipped with a different tank: the I Abteilung had Pz IV, the II Abteilung had Pz III and the III had Stug III. Also the 14, 16 and 24 PDs had this planned structure after its destruction at Stalingrad. 

 As both I and III battalions are easily done with models from other units I had to make the II battalion due to its particularities: first I couldn´t use the Pz III M from my Kursk project due to them having side schuerzen and second the ones from HG simply had the dunkelgelb painted and no camouflage. Another interesting aspect was the absent crosses, typical of most of Germany's AFVs. Also the uniform of the HG tankers had some particularities. 

The models are the great 3d resin prints of Mário Laranja. I asked him to make this group of Pz III M only with turret schuerzen. I couldn´t find a definitive answer to the reason for the HG Pz IIIs not having the big side protections. It´s true that the AT rifle was not a big threat in the West as it was in the East, but there were Bazookas, PIATs and 57mm and 37mm AT guns that the Germans knew about. But maybe the small Mediterranean roads sided by tall stonewalls in many places or even the tight roads of Sicilian  and Italian villages  forced the Germans to discard them. 

This level of detail is made with only three pieces, hull, turret and a piece of track to be placed in the front. 

The only additions were a crude plastic cylinder to insert the antenna, the figures and some stowage. 

Painted at the front you can see also the interesting way to mark each company (not only of the tank regiment but of all the HG division) with a clock in which the hour represents the company. 

The Panzer crews used mostly tropical items mixed with the normal uniform so I mixed a tropical cap with the usual black uniform. 

Can´t really be sure about this one. The 7th tank company had a few Pz IV (hence only two Pz III in this one) and at least one had painted crosses, so I used them also in the other tanks of the company without being certain about this choice. 

The 6th company had a black '6' in the rear turret as a specific mark of this company. 

I couldn´t find a specific image of any of the II battalion´s commanders tanks so this 'I' is just a guess. 

Most of the information used to paint and model these tanks was taken from the great Firefly No 3 about German armour in Sicily. 

Next: maybe some Sdkfz 11, a new video or something else. Stay tuned in the best blog of Travessa Moura e Sá, No15, Coimbra!!!